I am a health-care professional and I follow the health-care insurance issue closely. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, was quoted in a Sept. 4 Columbian editorial (“In Our View — Weighing in on Health Care“) to be in favor of “generic health plans” that currently are not allowed. I’ve been waiting to hear what her definition of “generic health plan” is.
Details are critically important in any health-care proposal. For example, bills to protect coverage for pre-existing conditions need to be judged on more than title. The Affordable Care Act limits how much more insurers may charge based on age. Those who are older are more likely to have a pre-existing condition. “Protections for pre-existing conditions” bills that do not include this limit will give insurers a workaround to price out many with pre-existing conditions.
I did not see any age protections in the 2017 Protecting Pre-existing Conditions House Bill co-sponsored by Herrera Beutler. This bill was also written to only go into effect if the ACA were to be repealed.
